Upgrades
by bean21
Summary: Cisco eyed Captain Cold and Heat Wave suspiciously. "What do you two want?" Snart held up his gun with a smirk. "Upgrades." (Set between The Flash 2x09 and 2x10 and during Legends of Tomorrow 1x01.)


Cisco drummed his fingers against his desk, resting his cheek against his other hand. Blinking hard, he tried to get his eyes to focus on his computer screen so he could read that pesky sentence for the fifth time. He groaned and shoved his chair back, running his fingers though his hair and locking them behind his head. This research was going nowhere. Grabbing his phone, he opened the voice recorder.

"Well, here we go," he said into the phone, "first entry of the new year. I suppose I could have updated sooner if things hadn't been _so stinking boring._ Seriously, nothing has happened since Christmas. Barry spends most of his time with Patty, Caitlin spends her time with Jay, Joe and Iris are working—not exactly successfully—on making Wally part of the West family, and Harry-" He laughed sarcastically. "Harry continues to be a great big ball of sunshine."

He swiveled back and forth in his chair, staring thoughtfully at the Cortex ceiling.

"Actually," he continued, "Harry's been especially weird lately. Not that he isn't always weird. And a jerk. And an idiot. But somehow he's managing to increase that. Anyway, I almost never see the guy anymore. Not that I'm complaining. So where does all that leave yours truly?"

Cisco set his phone on the desk and reached for a Twizzler.

"It leaves me here. No dates, as my last love interest turned out to be a reincarnating Egyptian priestess hawk girl." He took a bite of his licorice. "Aaaand of course the one before that is debatably evil, definitely criminal, the sister of a psychopath, and very much gone. And nothing is happening on any other fronts either—we're not getting any leads on Zoom, I've made as many updates to the suit as I can think of at the moment, and our metas are being weirdly quiet these days. So, yeah, no dates, no team members, no life…just hanging out in S.T.A.R. Labs. Alone. And bored."

"I can fix that," a sneering voice said.

Before Cisco could react, a cold blast of white light rushed past him, knocking the Twizzler out of his hand. It clattered on the floor—frozen solid.

"Holy Felicity Smoak!" Cisco yelled as he stood and whirled around. A man was standing there, leaning casually against the door frame, gun pointed at the ceiling, dark goggles on his face and his furry hood pulled up.

"Captain Cold," Cisco said, crossing his arms.

"Cisco." Leonard Snart smiled. "Long time."

"And still not long enough."

"What, you didn't miss us?" another voice asked. Mick Rory came around the corner and through the door.

"Ah come on, you brought Heat Wave? For real?" Cisco said.

Mick smiled, which always made him look exceptionally insane. "Heat Wave. I do like that name."

"Relax," Snart drawled, taking off his goggles and hood as he and Mick walked casually into the Cortex. "We're not here to kidnap you again."

"Well, I wanted to," Mick said, wandering around and picking up equipment.

"Don't touch anything!" Cisco held up a fist, trying to control his frustration. He turned to Snart. "Mind putting a leash on your Pitbull over there?"

"Watch it, ya Cocker Spaniel," Mick growled back.

"Calm down, both of you," Snart said. "We're all friends here."

"You have a funny definition of 'friends.'" Cisco eyed him suspiciously. "What do you two want?"

Snart held up his gun with a smirk. "Upgrades."

Cisco forced an unamused laugh. "You guys have some nerve, waltzing in here and expecting me to actually help you. You think I'm going to touch those guns after you kidnapped me and my brother to force me to make them in the first place?"

"Admittedly those weren't the most ideal circumstances," Snart said slowly. "Still, you did a good job, and these guns have been sufficient for our purposes. But someone's tampered with them recently, and it got me thinking that now we could use a bit _more_. With S.T.A.R. Labs at your disposal, that shouldn't be a problem."

"I thought you knew all about your gun and how to fix it," Cisco said, alternating between trying to return Snart's stare down and trying to watch Mick, who was now eyeing the Flash suit.

"You're not listening," Snart said impatiently, taking a step closer. "Of course I know how to _fix_ my gun, but I don't have your science skills to _build_ it, or to add to it."

Cisco hesitated, but his curiosity got the better of him. "What kind of upgrades are you thinking of?"

Mick turned toward him with an eager expression. "What kind of upgrades you got?"

"We need to know they'll last a _very_ long time without problems," Snart continued, turning the gun over in his hands and beginning to pace. "And we need to know they won't be affected by some…" He paused and tilted his head. "…temporal shifts."

"Temporal shifts?" Cisco raised an eyebrow, then his eyes widened as he understood. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Temporal shifts?" Mick asked. "I thought we were worried about the time travel."

Snart closed his eyes as he sighed. "Mick, let me handle this."

"No way," Cisco said. "The last thing we need is you two messing with history. How would you time travel anyway?"

"Not your concern. But you obviously know enough about it to not be surprised by the idea, so I'm guessing you know enough to work on these guns."

"We've been…learning about it…recently." Cisco fought against his curiosity. "It still doesn't mean I'm helping you after all you've done."

"I know our last encounter was unfortunate," Snart said, "but after I helped you all at Christmas-"

Cisco held up a hand. "Let me stop you there. If that was supposed to be an apology, it sucked. And you and The Flash's score settling thing doesn't change the way _I_ feel about you."

"Do we need to be more persuasive?" Mick said angrily. In a few quick strides he was between Cisco and Snart and pushing the heat gun against Cisco's chest.

Before he could react, Cisco's world shifted. His vision of the two criminals cut in and out, and he felt himself being pulled away.

He was standing on a rooftop at nighttime, facing a man in a trench coat. He turned around, and saw a line of people who were also facing the stranger. But he knew each of these people.

"I know it's difficult to fathom," the stranger was saying in a British accent, apparently talking to Snart, "but where—when—I'm from, the year 2166, you, and everyone on this roof, aren't just considered heroes…you're legends."

The vibe cut out, and he was back in the Cortex—Snart had pulled Mick away and they were arguing.

"What are you two doing with all of them?" Cisco yelled over their voices. They stopped fighting and turned to him, looking confused.

"Professor Stein, Jax, Ray, Sara Lance, Carter and…and Kendra. Why were you with all of them?"

Snart's eyes narrowed. "How did you know that?"

"Newsflash: I know things," Cisco replied impatiently. "That doesn't matter. What matters is you answering me. Why were all of you together?"

Snart and Mick exchanged glances, but Snart simply shrugged. "That's the team. Apparently we're going to save the world together."

"You're going with all of them? Time traveling?"

"We're on the side of the heroes this time."

"More or less," Mick added.

Cisco stared hard at them, trying to decide if he could trust what they were telling him. "And that's why you want the upgrades to your guns?"

"And people say I'm slow," Mick grunted.

"Look," Snart said, "much as I love chatting, we are on a deadline here, so we'd appreciate it if you'd help us out."

Cisco closed his eyes and exhaled, hating himself for what he was about to do.

"Give me your guns."

"You're actually going to help us?" Mick asked. "Willingly?"

Cisco glared at him. "Willingly, not happily. Don't make me rethink this, hot head."

"How do we know you won't double-cross us?" Mick said, eyeing Cisco skeptically. "Are you going to try to mess with our guns again?"

"Unlike some people in this room, I'm not a criminal. And it helps, a little bit, that I'm not under duress this time."

A slow smile spread across Snart's face. "Don't tell me you're starting to trust us, Cisco."

Cisco forced a too-big smile. "Not hardly." His expression immediately went back to serious. "But the people you're going with? I trust them. And I care about them. So if you're genuinely going to be helping them, I'll help you. But I swear, if you harm any of them in any way, I will be able to find you."

Snart nodded at Cisco with something like respect. Then he handed over his gun. Mick looked less than thrilled, but with a nod from Snart he did the same.

A few hours later, Cisco was working on the heat gun, Leonard Snart was pacing around the Cortex, carefully examining his upgraded cold gun, and Mick Rory was reclined in a chair, feet propped up on a desk, and just starting to snore.

"Well, this wasn't how I envisioned my night going," Cisco mumbled.

"Isn't this better?" Snart asked, still fiddling with the gun. "We solved your boredom problem."

"Yeah, well, you owe me a Twizzler."

Cisco paused. So far he'd worked in silence, but one question kept coming to his mind, and he couldn't resist asking any longer. Keeping his eyes on the gun, trying to be casual, he cleared his throat.

"So, um, how's your sister doing?"

Snart spun on his heel to face Cisco, his eyes narrowed. "You never did tell me what your intentions with her were."

"You never did kill me for kissing her," Cisco mumbled.

Snart held up his gun, and the blue triangle in its center began to crackle. "Never too late…" Cisco jumped to his feet, but Snart let the gun fall to his side. His perpetual smirk faded, but for the first time, his expression changed to something genuine as he walked closer. "I also never thanked you. She told me how you got the bomb out of her neck. I appreciate you saving my sister, Cisco."

He held out his hand. Cisco hesitated, then shook it. "Of course."

"Lisa's doing just fine," Snart said.

Cisco nodded. "Staying out of trouble?"

"Well…don't hope for too much."

Cisco turned back to the heat gun, trying to stop the cheesy grin that was spreading across his face. At that moment, however, footsteps echoed down the hallway and a voice called out.

"Ramon, I need to use-"

Harry cut off his sentence as he entered the Cortex and found Leonard Snart's cold gun pointing directly at him. Mick, who'd just woken up, was still searching for his own gun in confusion.

"Harrison Wells?" Snart asked, obviously trying to hide his surprise.

"Yes, but I'm not him," Harry answered routinely.

"Of course you're him, I'm not stupid," Snart said, keeping his gun up. "You're wanted for the murder of Nora Allen, and you're just hanging out here? Does the Flash know that, Cisco?"

"Whoa, ok, cool it, Cold," Cisco said, running over to him and pushing the gun down. "That's not him. I mean, it is Harrison Wells, but it's not _that_ Harrison Wells. It's his doppelganger."

"So what, he has an evil twin?" Mick asked.

"Why does everyone think there's an evil twin?" Harry said.

"Besides," Cisco said, "the first Wells who wasn't really Wells would have been the evil one. This one's just the jerk one."

"Ok," Mick interrupted, "anyone else here confused?"

"Yes, actually," Snart responded.

"Look," Harry said, sounding annoyed, "I'm not the Harrison Wells from here, just like you, Mr. Snart, are not the mayor from my earth."

"Your earth?" Snart and Mick asked together.

"Oh come on, guys," Cisco said, "you're here because you're going time traveling. Multiple earths shouldn't be that big of a concept for you."

"So why'd you let these guys in, Ramon?" Harry asked.

"I didn't let them in, they walked in."

Harry laughed. "Wow, you guys really do have security problems."

"Ok, yeah, _we_ have some security problems here that I'm very aware of but-"

"The security at _my_ S.T.A.R. Labs is just fine," Harry said, picking the frozen Twizzler up off the floor and examining it.

"Then why haven't _you_ done anything to help us with ours?"

"I have bigger problems at the moment, Ramon. Anyway, if you didn't let these guys in, why are you helping them?"

"I, um…" Cisco sighed. "It's a long story."

"Uh huh. Ok. Well, I don't have time. And I don't really care." Harry threw the frozen licorice at Cisco.

"I kinda like this guy," Mick said. He walked over to the table and picked up the heat gun. "This done yet?"

"No, no, it's not, put it down!" Cisco ran over and grabbed the heat gun out of his hands. Mick growled and glared down at him.

"Ok, wow, you're even bigger and more psychotic up close," Cisco whispered, setting the gun back down and backing away.

"Ramon!" Harry shouted. "I didn't come in here to chat, with you or with these guys. I need-"

"Oh my goodness can everyone just calm down and give me a second?" Cisco yelled.

Snart sat down and crossed his feet on top of the desk. "I should have brought popcorn for this."

"You," Cisco pointed at Snart. "Not helping. You." He turned to Mick. "Your gun's almost done, but could explode this whole lab if you don't let me finish it. And you." He turned to Harry, then paused, looking confused. "Where did you even come from? I thought I was the only one in here. Well, before these two showed up."

"In case you forgot, I'm kind forced to live here right now," Harry replied.

"Not like it's stopped you from leaving before. Whatever. What do you need?"

"I need the S.T.A.R. Labs vacuum cleaner. The big one you rigged with all those LEDs."

"Why?" Cisco crossed his arms. "I know it's not cause you plan on cleaning up the messes you make when you throw my stuff around."

"I need to take it apart for something I'm working on."

"See! You're constantly destroying things!"

"Yep, I definitely like this guy," Mick chimed in.

"Whatever, Harry, just take it," Cisco said, ignoring Mick. "It's over in that corner. And I'm not helping you carry it anywhere."

"Fine, I'll just take it apart in here."

"Great, keep making messes, be my guest," Cisco muttered.

Snart stood and watched as Harry fiddled with the bulky vacuum, accidentally bumping a button that turned on the blue-white lights inside of it.

"Cisco," Snart said slowly. "That's quite the vacuum cleaner."

Cisco turned to him with a confused expression.

"In fact," Snart continued, his voice colder than ever, "if I didn't know better, I'd say it looked like a certain prototype cold gun. 'Four times the size, four times the power.'"

"Oh snap," Cisco said quietly.

"Do you mean to tell me…" Snart stepped uncomfortably close to Cisco and glared down at him. "…that the first time we met, you actually threatened me with a vacuum cleaner?"

"Uh, well," Cisco stammered. "To be fair, it's a really weird vacuum that does look like a gun."

A tense silence hung in the air. Then both Harry and Mick began laughing uncontrollably.

"If _any_ of you tell a soul, I will personally turn you into popsicles," Snart said, pointing his cold gun from Harry to Mick. He turned back to Cisco.

"Are you going to kill me now?" Cisco asked, cringing. "Because I was really hoping against all odds that I was going to survive this night."

"Lucky for you," Snart said, "some things have changed over the past year. I now owe you one, for Lisa. And…" He spoke even quieter so the others couldn't hear him. "I'm fairly impressed. You're a smart guy, Cisco. And that bluff took guts."

He turned away and Cisco let out a shaky breath of relief.

Over the next hour, Harry destroyed the vacuum as Cisco finished working on the heat gun. Mick had rummaged around and found pretzels somewhere that probably belonged to Caitlin, and he and Snart were snacking while they waited.

Finally, Cisco pushed back from the table where he was working. "It's ready."

Mick hurried over and picked up the gun, then shot a stream of flame into the air.

"Whoa! Not in here!" Cisco yelled. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"Patience, Mick," Snart said, "you'll get to play with your gun later. Cisco, mind giving us the full run-down on these upgrades now?"

"Well, leaving out the science that you wouldn't really understand anyway, I did what you asked. The heat gun's fuel chambers can hold more, and the cold gun's micro-engine has a more sustainable charge, so they'll both last longer than before. Their range is increased so they can reach farther. I made some modifications so they shouldn't be affected by time travel. And-" Cisco couldn't hide the grin that showed his excitement over his work. "Both guns now have a concussive blast ability, so you can shoot people and potentially knock them out without actually freezing or burning them."

"Not bad," Snart said as he and Mick both looked their guns over closely. "I knew coming to you was smart."

Cisco shrugged. "Yeah, well, I always like a chance to improve on my work." His smile faded as he remembered that he was supposed to be upset about helping the criminals who'd kidnapped him and Dante. "Which I was extremely hesitant to do in this case," he added slowly. He narrowed his eyes. "I still don't trust you."

"Wouldn't expect you to," Snart answered. "But thanks all the same. See you around, Cisco."

Without another word, Captain Cold and Heat Wave left. Harry glanced up from the disassembled vacuum, but didn't comment. Cisco dropped into the chair he'd started the night in and grabbed his cell phone, turning on the voice recorder.

"Update: life at S.T.A.R. Labs is never boring."

...

A/N - I hope you enjoyed reading that fic as much as I enjoyed writing it! It started with the idea of how Captain Cold would react if he ever found out that Cisco's prototype cold gun was really a vacuum cleaner. Ultimately it was an excuse to put Cisco, Harry, Captain Cold, and Heat Wave all in the same room. Please leave a comment letting me know what you thought! :)


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